Husker spirit will shine in Sheldon’s 'Go Big Red' exhibition

Head football coach Matt Rhule sees in the photograph “Football Kick” by Harold Edgerton “a pivotal moment in the game — one that every coach has experienced, whether in triumph or heartbreak.”

Rhule is one of 45 community co-curators for the exhibition “Go Big Red,” opening Aug. 16 at Sheldon Museum of Art. For the show, each co-curator or team of co-curators selected a work from the museum’s collection that features red, the school color chosen by University of Nebraska students in 1892.

To Susan Longhenry, the museum’s director and one of the exhibition’s co-curators, the university’s rallying chant “Go Big Red” is “an intangible force that unites and inspires people on campus, in Lincoln and across Nebraska.” 

Courtesy | Sheldon Museum of Art

“We’re excited to extend that spirit into the museum’s galleries,” she said. 

There, visitors will find paintings, photographs, prints and sculptures accompanied by statements from the co-curators who selected the works.

Collectively, the art spans history, genres, styles and media, just as the participants and their reflections represent the distinctive individuals who have come together to realize the exhibition.

Erin Hanas, Sheldon’s curator for academic and campus engagement, organized “Go Big Red” and the work of its 45 guest curators — a group that includes students, staff, faculty, athletic coaches, administrators and friends of the university.

Hanas credits the co-curators with helping museum visitors see art in new ways.

“Everyone brings their own perspective to viewing art, and everyone has something valuable to say about what they see in a work of art,” she said.

“Go Big Red” is on view through Dec. 31 at the museum, 12th and R streets. Learn more.